Apple Store won't verify MBA before purchase?

Hi there and hello from Ireland.

This is my 1st post and i hope that i am not posting in the wrong place or breaking any rules?

If not i will tell you my predicament! I bought an MBA when they were 1st released and i was living and working in the USA. Absolutely loved it an A1237 1.8Ghz model and upon returning to the UK set my heart upon buying another. I have found through an online auction site a 2nd hand A1237 the same as my original for sale at a very good price and it appears to only have the hinge issue which i know is easily fixed as i repaired my own.

The seller is from England and i am from N. Ireland and being dubious i asked for the serial no which has been provided so as too check if the MBA is stolen or off dubious history, the seller has provided this and i contacted my local Apple shop in Belfast and the fella was very polite told me that he could not check the MBA's status and i would need to contact the Police!?

Is this correct? I was of the impression they would hold a database of all their products serial no's and could tell me straight off if the product was legit or stolen?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

David.

There is a website that allows you to use the serial to verify the model number, CPU, GPU, etc. associated to the serial number when it was manufactured. I don't know, other than local police, if there is a central database of stolen serial numbers for computers, Apple or otherwise.

Thanks redraven, i will seek out that website. I just do not want to go to the Genius bar and have a tech rep come back and tell me that im not getting my MBA back.

You can use the Apple website to verify the specs with the serial number. However, I haven't heard of them having a website to verify if it was stolen or not. It would be a great thing to have though. I wonder why they wouldn't consider having that?

Hi again, had a busy week with life but went with advice to the Apple website and keyed in my serial no and all the website would tell me was that the MBA was registered, surely if its registered it could be registered stolen? I did not buy the MBA here in Ireland rather i bought it in England. So, is the fact that the MBA is registered on the Apple site of any value or not please!? Or do i need to contact English police to discover its status?

DaveMack.

Registered does not necessarily mean it was stolen. Perhaps the original owner registered it for Apple Care. I would think if the seller was willing to give you the serial number, that the machine was probably his to sell. Why would a thief give you the serial number of a machine he stole?

I would forget it and just enjoy your newly purchased MBA.